Turbo 2.0 is here — here's what's new and how to get it

It’s finally here — Turbo 2.0 with sections! This is the first major update to our latest and greatest Shopify theme, Turbo.

So, what’s new in Turbo 2.0? How do you get the latest version? Find that out and more below.

Sections support

The key change in Turbo 2.0 is the introduction of full support for Shopify theme sections. This means you’ll have access to these great sections on the homepage:

Image with text overlay: Add a full width image banner with a background image, preheading, heading, subheading and two separate link buttons. You can also chose the text position and alignment. There are also options to add a solid box behind the text to make it easier to read, as well as highlight one or both buttons

Slideshow: Add a slideshow-style full-width section. The slideshow can be a slider-style or fade between each slide with an animation effect — the text on each slide can also be animated. Other options are similar to those offered in the image with text overlay section.

Featured promotions: Select from two, three or four promotions per row and toggle between standard width or full width layouts. You can also select from square, rounded corner and circular shapes as well as the animation style — or turn off the animation altogether. Featured promotions can also have an optional title, short text block and a button with link of your choice. In addition, you can choose to place the title over the image or below it.

Gallery: Select from a classic, horizontal or masonry style layout in either full or standard width and in the classic style you can select the number of images per row. You can also opt to show a larger image in a lightbox when a shopper clicks on it in all styles.

Image with text: Add a checkerboard-style layout that boasts a full width design. Each image can have a heading, text block and link button. You can also opt to include one or two images per row as well as set the text alignment to left, center or right.

Collection list: Show two, three, four or five collections each with a custom image of your choice. Customers can click the collection image to view the entire collection.

Logo list: Add small images, such as logos, that can each be linked to a unique URL. A new row of images starts after every fourth one.

Blog posts: Show two, three or four of the latest post from the blog of your choice. You can also choose to show or hide the post tags, comment count, date, author name or the “read more” button.

Featured products: Showcase just one product, or display several staggered for a checkerboard-style full width layout. You can display the full product image gallery, with a slider style or the hover-to-zoom effect. You can also choose to show or hide the vendor name and product description as well as control the alignment of the description.

Newsletter: Show a full width newsletter signup box. You can add first and last name fields easily without custom code and set a background image behind the form. Also customize the section heading and text block without editing your site’s language file and set the form’s text alignment.

Social feeds: Show a Twitter or Instagram feed — or both. You’ll have the option to select from number of posts per feed as well as toggle between the light or dark Twitter widget style.

Page: Use this feature to include custom content from a page you have created in your admin (Online shop > Pages), which will then allow you to include more advanced HTML layouts on the homepage.

Rich text and image: Show a section with an optional image above a heading, text block and/or button that links to a location of your choice.

Testimonials: A full width banner-style testimonial section, each with unique content. You can also select a background image and apply a darker screen over the image to boost readability. Other options are similar to the image with text overlay section.

Featured video: Select from a YouTube, Vimeo or HTML5 video to appear in a full width section. The video can automatically play or loop (on supported devices). You can also apply a darker “screen” effect to make the text overlay easier to read. Also set an image that appears before the video plays along with a heading, subheading and select text positioning and alignment. You can also put up to two buttons over the video, including one that starts the video. Other settings are similar to the image with text overlay section.

All of these sections are nearly infinitely configurable and include many sub-options, plus can be dragged and dropped around the page quickly and easily.

Set the color of the overlay “screen” that appears when hovering on particular linked elements like product thumbnails on collection pages.

This area also gives you access to all of the color, typography and other settings you’ve always had access to.

Under the hood

Our team has also addressed some lingering bugs as well as implemented some general performance enhancements. Turbo also builds upon its existing rock solid code foundation that is optimized for speed.

Now with some 'Seoul'

The other big addition to Turbo 2.0 is the addition of Turbo’s second preset theme style — what we lovingly have named “Seoul.”

Named after the capital of South Korea, Seoul is designed with sophistication and a sleek, minimal feel— with a bit of an edge and subtle colorful elements.

Along with the style, we’ve also launched our second Turbo demo store featuring premium audio products from Bang + Olufsen.

Also, keep in mind that your purchase includes both the Seoul and Portland preset theme styles (as well as any future theme styles we release for Turbo).

Looking to the future

We’re not done, either. Our awesome design and development team is already hard at work on Turbo 2.1, which will build on this release by adding new flexibility and options to the theme in the coming months.

Also, did we mention that the upgrade to Turbo 2.0 is free? As with all Out of the Sandbox themes, your initial purchase of Turbo includes free upgrades for the life of your store.

Once you’ve installed the app, it will automatically detect the (now outdated) version of Turbo you have installed and suggest an upgrade.

A few important notes:

Please be aware that because any version of Turbo starting with “1” does not support theme sections, you will need to rebuild your homepage if you are upgrading from one of those versions (Not sure what theme version you’re using? click here).

However, there’s no need to panic about affecting your current store. Upgrading or downloading the new version now will not affect your current, live store. Our theme updater app installs the new version as an unpublished theme on your store.

Use the unpublished copy of your theme to set up and design your new homepage when you have time.

We always recommend previewing and testing any new theme version before going live. You can click the “eye” icon next to the unpublished theme to see your store with the new theme. This also lets you see the theme with your actual products and other content without affecting what your customers see.

As with any theme upgrade, any customizations you’ve made to Liquid, CSS or other code will not carry over. Changes made to your language locale file will also need to be carried over manually.

Yes, we realize it’s a bit of a pain to redo the homepage. However, there are a few advantages to taking the time to redo it now:

By adding support for sections, you’ll get access to a much more flexible and dynamic way to build your homepage.

In many cases, you may be able to forgo customizing code, making updating even easier in the future, since the new homepage sections give you much more flexibility (we always recommend keep code customizations to a minimum).

Your homepage will become much more engaging and easy to manage — giving you more ways to boost sales and conversions.

You’ll get the latest bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Also, it’s important to note you will only need to rebuild your homepage completely once. Once you’ve made the jump to 2.0, the theme updater app will carry over your homepage settings from version to version. The only exception to this is that, if we add new features in the future, you may need to update your homepage to use these settings, but nearly all of your theme settings should carry through seamlessly.

By upgrading, our support team will also be able to to assist you much more efficiently.

If you haven’t upgraded Turbo yet, now is the time to do so!

Save 20% off your purchase of the Turbo Shopify theme for a limited time using coupon code T2BLOGA.

Michael P. Hill

Michael P. Hill is a Shopify, Shopify theme, content marketing, digital marketing and product management expert based in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter at @michaelphill or connect on LinkedIn. While comments and feedback are always appreciated, Michael regrets that, due to the volume of inquires received, personal responses are not possible. For specific assistance or support with Out of the Sandbox themes, visit the help center.